PARENTS and carers have dismissed as “nonsense” Tory claims that their flagship benefit universal credit gets them into work.

In a report detailing their experiences of jobcentres published today by the Changing Realities project, more than 100 called for an overhaul of employment support to make the benefits system “fit for purpose.”

One single parent said: “The idea that universal credit gets you into work or off benefits into better employed work is nonsense.

“Its system of commitments and sanctions simply puts people under pressure to do more low-paid, poorly supported work, so they are financed less by the government.”

Another said: “I did not receive any [employment support] but only pressure to go and look for any jobs available, without the benefit authority’s agents taking into account my personal circumstances.”

The ineffective support given by jobcentre work coaches emerges as a  common theme among claimants who contributed to the report, which is backed by the University of York and the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank.

A third parent said she did not believe work coaches “understand our individual circumstances” as there are frequent changes in the person assigned to each claimant.

The government promised that universal credit would “help more people to move into and progress in work” when it was introduced between 2013 and 2015.

But the report found that financial sanction rates had doubled from pre-pandemic levels for those expected to carry out full-time job searches, reaching 7.6 per cent.

IPPR associate director Melanie Wilkes said: “While not everyone is able to work, there are millions of people being let down by the benefits system who want to get into work or work more hours, but the system is failing them.”

University of York senior lecturer Dr Ruth Patrick added: “There is an urgent need to reform our failing system of employment support, moving away from conditionality and sanctions, and from an approach that prioritises transitions into any job rather than supporting individuals to find decent, long-term employment.”

Among the report’s recommendations were removing the five-week wait for the first payment, withdrawing the threat of sanctions, axing the two-child limit and the benefit cap and providing a consistent case worker.

It also called for universal credit to be made “fit for purpose by exploring flexible assessment periods, incentivising people into work by expanding work allowances and helping claimants with the costs of looking for work.”

The Department for Work and Pensions has been contacted for comment.